Will Our Love Last?

Hanako had fallen in love, and had enthusiastically responded to the young man's proposal of marriage. She had no doubt of his love for her. As the marriage date drew near, however, her mother knew that something was bothering her.

One day, when the mother and daugh-ter were at the beach, the cause of the girl's worry came to light. "Will our love last?" she asked. "I've heard of so many cases where it did not. If I could only be certain that our marriage would be as successful as yours. Even now, when you and daddy are growing old, you always seem to be so close.
How did you manage to hold on to daddy's love?

The mother thought for a few minutes and then picked up two handfuls of sand. "Watch my hands," she said. Then she squeezed the sand in her left hand. The more she squeezed, the more sand escaped. through her fingers. The harder she squeezed, the more the sand escaped through her fingers. The harder she squeezed the more the sand escaped.
The right hand she kept open. It remained full of sand.

"I do not know," the mother said, "all of the secrets connected with love. But I do know this: it cannot be forced. It can only thrive in an atmosphere which is relaxed and trustful.

"I have never used any special techniques to hold on to your father's love. I have never tried to forced him to be the type of husband I wanted him to be. I accepted him as he was, and he did the same for me. This deep understanding and mutual trust of each other was, I think, more responsible than anything else for the success of our marriage.

"If we had tried to force each other to conform to each other's desires, as I forced that sand, our love might have been lost, and our marriage ruined."

愛はいつまでも

　花子は恋に落ち、相手の青年の結婚申し込みを喜んで受けると返事をした。彼女は、自分に対する青年の愛情に何の疑いも持たなかった。しかし、結婚の日が近づくにつれて、母親は、娘が何か悩んでいることに気づいた。

　ある日、親子揃って海岸へ行った時、花子は母親に悩みを打ち明けた。「私たちの愛情は長続きするかしら。私の結婚生活がママやパパのようにうまくいくという確信が持てるといいんだけど・・・。年をとった今でも、パパに愛情をなくさせない秘訣があるの。」

　母親はしばらく考えてから、両手に砂をすくって載せた。「手を見てごらん」と言って、砂をのせたまま左手を握りしめた。砂は指の間からこぼれ落ちる。手を強く握るほど砂はたくさんこぼれる。右手は開いたままなので、砂の量に変化はない。

　母親は言った。「愛情についての秘訣を全部は知らないけれど、愛情は無理強いするべきものじゃないことはわかるわ。愛はゆったりとした信頼感の中でのみ育つものなのよ。」

　「私はパパの愛情をつなぎとめるために特別なことをしたことは一度もないわ。それに私は、パパを無理に自分が望むタイプの夫にしようとしたことはないわ。パパをそのまま受け入れたし、パパも私にそうしてくれたのよ。この深い理解とお互いの信頼とが、何にも増して、私たちの結婚生活がうまくいったもとだと私は思うの。」

　「相手を無理に自分の思う通りにしようとすれば、握りしめられた砂のように愛情は失われ、結婚生活はダメになったかもしれないわ。」

　花子の表情は前よりやわらいだ。